Interviews with several high-ranking officials have led investigators to believe that some may have accepted benefits from Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and FBI Director James Comey
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Several high-ranking NYPD members have been transferred or have had their duties modified as details emerge from a two-year federal investigation into officials reportedly accepting gifts — such as free meals and international trips — in exchange for favors.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement Thursday that the department started an investigation with the Internal Affairs Bureau at the end of September 2013. In early 2014, the FBI and Department of Justice began their own investigation, and the organizations consolidated their reviews.
Based on the investigation, Bratton said the department has "modified and transferred" Deputy Chief Michael Harrington and Deputy Inspector James Grant from their duties. Deputy chiefs David Colon and Eric Rodriguez were also transferred.
The NYPD chief also confirmed to a local CBS affiliate on Wednesday that in addition to the deputies, a Community Affairs Detective for the 66th Precinct had been put on administrative duties and stripped of his gun and badge.
None of the officers have been criminally charged.
Bratton added that he's ordered traning sessions to address "conflict of interest rules" for everyone who ranked as a captain or higher.
"The potential violations under investigation include violations of NYPD rules and policies, the City conflicts of interest rules and the federal criminal laws," Bratton said. "The investigation is examining the conduct of current and former NYPD officers and several others."
The announcement comes after the New York Post and Associated Press reported that investigation found that some top-ranking NYPD officials accepted free meals, trips, and other benefits in exchange for favors to two prominent businessmen in Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community, Jeremy Reichberg and Jona Rechnitz.
Both men had served on NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's inaugural committee in 2013, and made contributions to his campaign.
A subpoena reviewed last year by the AP shows that federal agents had been looking into the relationship between a real estate company run by Rechnitz and a union that represents 9,000 Correction Department officers, the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association.
Mayor de Blasio addressed questions about his involvement with Reichberg or Rechnitz at an unrelated event on Wednesday.
"Neither of them has contributed to my reelection campaign," he said. "While this investigation is going on we will, of course, not accept any donations."
Correction Officers' Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook told the New York Post on Monday that he and former NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks III traveled to Israel with Rechnitz and Reichberg in 2014.
In return, Seabrook told the Post that he and Banks gifted the businessmen a $5,000 backgammon set "so that nobody could say they bought me the ticket."
Banks's lawyer, Ben Branfman, told the Post "It does not appear that Mr. Banks, either while employed by the New York City Police Department or after he retired, was involved in any intentional criminal conduct."
A spokesperson for Seabrook declined comment to BuzzFeed News.
Other questionable favors include providing police escorts for the businessmen's deliveries, crowd control during Hasidic weddings, and additional security when Torahs are transported, according to the Post. In exchange, high-ranking officers reportedly received gifts including tickets to the Super Bowl and international trips.
A spokesperson for the FBI told BuzzFeed News that the bureau was "not discussing the matter."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/23m45yg
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